Nest-box.



PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

W. H. RIGE. NEST BOX. APPLICATION rmm 811mm. 190s,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NEST-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

Application filed eptember 15, 1903. Serial No. 173,263.

To all whom, it mo concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAn H. RICE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Mechanicsburg, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful I Improvements in Nest-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an improved nest-box for fowls,of that class in which when the nest is occupied entrance to the box is prevented.

The object of the invention is to provide a box of this character which will be of simple and inexpensive construction,will not beliable to get out of order, and the parts of which can be readily removed from the outer box or casing to be cleaned or for any other purpose.

With these and other ends in view the invention consists in the construction and ar rangement of parts, that will be hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through a nest-box constructed in accordance with the present invention. F ig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings,in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in each of the figures, 1 designates the box or casing, in one of the side walls of which is formed an opening or doorway 2, said box preferably having a hinged top 3, which when opened permits ready access to the interior of the box.

Within the box is arranged a stationary floor 4, which does not extend throughout the length of the box, but is separated from the wall thereof in which the doorway2 is formed by suflicient space to receive and permit of the free vertical motion of a sliding door or cover-plate 5. This door or slide is provided with an opening 6, which when the nest, hereinafter referred to, is not occupied is in alinement with the doorway 2, permitting free access to the interior of the box. Said door or slide 5 is of such weight and so supported as to normally remain in its lowermost position, in which said opening 6 is in alinement with the aforesaid doorway 2. The door or slide 5 is connected to one end of a lever 7, which is mounted centrally on a rock-shaft or provided with laterally-extending rocker-arms 8, the outer ends of which are journaled in suitable recesses or forked bearings formed at the upper ends of standards 9, which are rigidly secured to opposite side walls of the box 1.

The lever 7 extends beyond said rocker-arms, on the opposite side thereof from the door or slide 5, any suitable distance and at its rear end is attached to a cross-bar 10 of the nestsupporting frame. This frame consists of a tray or receptacle 11 and uprights 12, which are suitably connected to the ends of said cross-bar l0.

The several parts above described-are so proportioned and arranged that the slide or door 5 is slightly heavier than the nest-supporting frame and the portion of the lever between said frame and the axis about which it is adapted to rock-that is, normally the parts occupy the positions shown in full lines in Fig. 1, in which the door 5 is in its lowermost position and the nest-frame is in its uppermost position, the top edge of the tray 11 extending slightly above the platform 4:.

When a fowl enters the box and steps upon the nest, the weight thereof will cause a downward movement of the nest-frame and a consequent upward movement of the door or slide 5, closing the doorway.

The lever 7 may be connected to the door and nest-supporting frame in any suitable manner. Preferably, as shown, a hook 13 is connected by a suitable swiveled joint and depends from the forward end of said lever and engages with an eye 1 1 in the upper edge of the door 5. The rocker-arms 8, about which the slide-lever rocks, may be formed integral with the main arm of the lever or as a separate rock-shaft to which the lever is suitably secured.

The box may be ventilated by any suitable apertures formed in the walls either of the body or cover thereof.

One of the particular advantages incident to the construction above described is the ease with which the several parts may be removed from the box or casing 1. As the bearings for the lever 7 are sockets or notches in the upper ends of the standards 9, it is merely necessary to lift on said lever, when the nestsupporting frame and door will be raised from their operative positions and removed from the box. This is of great advantage, as it is very desirable that such parts be frequently cleaned, and if they are not made readily removable, as has been customary heretofore, the cleaning thereof becomes quite difficult.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

The herein-described hens nest, comprising a box or casing having a removable top and having a doorway formed in one .of its side walls, a raised floor within the box having one end adjacent said doorway, a slide adapted to move vertically between said floor and doorway and having an opening in alinement with the doorway when in its lowest position, a nest-frame adapted to move vertically between the other end of said floor and the adjacent Wall of the box and having arms, 12, extending upward from the middle of opposite sides thereof, the upper ends of said arms being connected by a cross-bar 10, a pair of standards 9 rising from the floor, and a lever having at one end a notch engaging said cross-bar and having its other end connected to the slide or door, said lever being provided at an intermediate point of its length with oppositely-extending arms which extend into notches formed in the upper ends of the standards 9, the parts being so arranged that when the top of the box is open the nest-frame-supporting lever, and door may be readily removed from the box.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM H. RICE. 

